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Symbol 39
The Categories of Consciousness of Terrestrial Mankind

A Summary Explanation of Symbol No. 39 - The Categories of Consciousness of Terrestrial Mankind


The symbol symbolises the connection of terrestrial human beings to the old world impulse and the new respectively, a connection that is determined by the developmental level of feeling and intelligence and their relationship to each other in their consciousness. The terrestrial human being’s receptivity to a new spiritual culture is not something that it can determine by using its will. This receptivity is determined by the spiritual quality behind its will, a spiritual quality that corresponds to the principal mental forces in its consciousness. These forces are a result of each individual’s collected experiences and its previous talents and habits. Since a great many terrestrial human beings believe that the attitude of their fellow beings to spiritual problems is merely a question of will, they often speak offensively about one another’s view of life or existence.

The main details of the symbol:

  • The symbol can be compared to symbol no. 1, which shows that the Earth is in contact with major cosmic world impulses. Here in symbol no. 39 the Earth is symbolised by the orange circle.
  • The wide semicircular figure that goes through the Earth indicates the old world impulse, which is represented by the present world religions.
  • The three uppermost yellow and green figures on the left symbolise three categories of people whose religious life is promoted by the new world impulse. As shown by the dotted line, these beings are united with the upper star on the right. They are termed Group A.
  • The three yellow and green figures at the bottom are correspondingly united with the lower star on the right. They are termed Group B. They symbolise three categories of people who have not as yet grown out of the old world impulse.
  • Since yellow symbolises feeling, and green symbolises intelligence, the figures show the combination of these two major factors of consciousness in the individuals.

Details of Group A:

  • The first figure on the left symbolises people with equal intelligence and feeling. They are the Earth’s most outstanding representatives of spiritual development.
  • The next figure symbolises people whose emotional life is overdeveloped in relation to their intellectual life. This can occur in very diverse types of people, from ingenious artists to fanatical followers of new religious communities. The zone of unhappy marriages is rather prevalent within this category.
  • The last of the three figures symbolises people with an intellectual life that is overdeveloped in relation to their emotional life. This can also occur in very diverse types of people, from ingenious scientists, politicians and born business people to antireligious people and so-called “master criminals”.

Details of Group B:

  • The first of the three figures at the bottom symbolises beings with equal intelligence and feeling. They are sincere believers, the most balanced and noblest beings within the world religions.
  • The next figure symbolises beings whose feeling is overdeveloped in relation to their intelligence, which can make them appear overly religious. This can be seen as masked intolerance or persecution of those who think differently.
  • The last of the figures at the bottom symbolises beings whose intelligence is overdeveloped in relation to their feeling. Since many of them have no conscience with regard to the laws of civilisation, they to a great extent end up in perpetual disharmony with these laws and appear as criminals.


See also Martinus' description of symbol no. 39 in The Eternal World Picture 4 and Livets Bog (The Book of Life) 1.